Wolf Knight
by Ghrathryn
Summary: Jel-Sha, a Argonian Battle-Scale arrives in Cyrodiil from the Black Marsh hunting a renegade, only to find that the renegade was her partner and the reason for the hunt is a tree whose sap is a dangerous halucinogen. The hunt will reveal yet more peril.


Disclaimer: The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, its lands and its characters belong to Bethesda.

There is a slight crossover with Morrowind in this fic, along with some attributes of the werewolf coming from Werewolf: The Apocalypse and Van Helsing. Also the Mutari are actually found in the Two Worlds game as the Orcs' horses, not in The Elder Scrolls series.

Jel-Sha and Xylia are my characters, but the others are taken from the game as are several of the quests and encounters, like the disrupted quest to kill Scar-Tail and the disrupted Cleansing. I've also expanded a bit on the way the Argonians work given what Oblivion says about their ways. Namely that the clans send children for training, usually based on their star sign. Shadow-Scales being The Shadow and sent for stealth and assassination, Battle-Scales being the Warrior and sent to learn how to fight, Mages being trained from those born under the Apprentice. Most likely there would be cross-over, but from what little I know, it seems that they refer to those born under a sign as ***-Scales. We know that Scar-Tail, Ocheeva and Teinaava are Shadow-Scales, so they're either the same age, give or take a month, or they were born around a year, two years apart. Jel-Sha is a Battle-Scale, born under the Warrior, so she's a trained fighter and monster killer.

The other thing I've expanded on a bit is the clans. Jel is a Sau'il, a mod race I found on TESNexus, that are a clan of Argonians that went underground to escape from slaving raids. I did mod them myself, giving Jel better shock resistance as opposed to the mod creator's shamanic abilities. I'm also going to say now that some of why Jel and Tein get together early is mutual attraction when they've not gotten anything for a while and some is Xylia interfering.

For those of you that have been following my other fic, Herald of the Knights, I have not forgotten about it, I'm just currently stuck trying to work out how to work the five scenes I want in chapter 10. As soon as I've got that and checked the chapter over, I'll upload it.

* * *

"That treacherousss ssslime mussst be around here sssomewhere." The green and brown Argonian hissed as he waded through the muck along the edge of the Black Marsh, his tail lashing behind him. "And when I find him, that no-good Shadow-Scale will find out what real pain means."

Glancing over at her temporary partner, Jel-Sha flicked her own, pale blue, tail. Why had the High Clans decided that this sadist would be the one to hunt down the renegade she didn't know, but since the King had sent the pair of them to find a renegade Shadow-Scale by the name of Scar-Tail, it looked like she was stuck with him for a while.

"You're forgetting something, Nar-She," she said, flicking her tail slowly, absently checking her weapons were loose in their scabbards. "Scar-Tail is a Shadow-Scale. He knows how to make himself disappear, amongst other things, and your temper is going to get you into trouble." She pointed out.

Nar-She snorted. "I can take any muck crawling Shadow-Scale." He spat.

Jel-Sha simply rolled her eyes as they waded out of the swamp. It was a shame she hadn't been able to get her mount, something that others had called a Mutari, through the last part of the swamp, since her presence would have made things more bearable. It wasn't the rivalry between her and her fellow Battle-Scale that made her wish for her mount's comforting presence so much as the fact that Nar-She had to be one of the most sadistic of the older Battle-Scales around. Of course the fact that he was stuck with a Far Clan female probably didn't endear him to things either.

"There he isss," Nar-She hissed as they made their way around a tree. "Stupid scum sucker even made a fire to guide us in." He added, drawing his sword.

"Draw us in more like." Jel-Sha muttered, unhooking the short retort bow from where it was hanging on her weapons harness and drawing a couple of arrows from their quiver. Placing one between her teeth, careful not to bite down and break the shaft, she knocked the other on her bow. Something about this felt wrong, but she couldn't tell what it was.

* * *

Jel-Sha flinched as a whip cracked behind her, followed by a choked off yelp. The fight could hardly have been called that. Scar-Tail had been caught half unconscious, not on top form, which worried her. From everything she had heard about Shadow-Scales, he should have had traps ready to alert him of their presence and should have either fought or fled, not simply lay on the ground waiting for them to capture him. Her eyes narrowed. His actions and reactions worried her more than the looming, oppressive dark that seemed to pervade the forest night around here.

"Bassstard refuses to talk." Nar-She muttered, moving up behind her. "He ought to be talking by now."

Jel-Sha snorted. "He's half dead already." Her tail lashing in frustration, "And… I get the feeling something else is going on here."

"Very astute," Nar-She said. "We need to find out who he sold the Hist tree to."

That brought her head up. Hist trees were rare plants of the Black Marsh; their sap was a powerful narcotic that induced berserk rage and psychotic visions, permanently if too much was taken over a period of time. "Do we actually know that he took it?" Jel-Sha asked.

Nar-She snorted. "It was a rogue Shadow-Scale and he _is_ a rogue Shadow-Scale. That makes him guilty, hatchling." He said.

Jel-Sha scowled at the gathered darkness. A Hist tree out here, whoever had brought it here was running an insane risk, not to mention how much a fool that one must be to try using its sap against their enemies. "If he had, I don't think he would have stayed where we could catch him so easily… unless they didn't buy it, but took it by force." She said, "Assuming that he is the courier, which is something we don't know for certain."

"He is." Nar-She said with sublime confidence, causing Jel-Sha's scowl to turn darker. Ignoring the younger Battle-Scale, he turned away, going back to what he had been doing.

The yelp that reached her ears caused her to flinch, but the hissing growl she heard under it brought Jel-Sha's head up. She knew that growl. Turning towards the sound, she scanned the camp and — instead of the familiar face she had expected to see — saw Nar-She putting the whip down and reaching for his dagger as he moved towards their prisoner.

The way he was gripping the dagger made it obvious what Nar-She intended on doing with it, unfortunately he was far enough away that she wasn't going to be able to get to him to stop him in time. Her tail lashing, Jel-Sha snagged her bow again and knocked an arrow. She couldn't let her partner kill a prisoner in their custody. Drawing back on the string, she drew the bow back further than it was actually meant to draw, fighting the tension to keep her aim steady.

Gritting her teeth as he got nearer to Scar-Tail, the dagger raised, Jel-Sha let fly, and watched as Nar-She was picked up by the force of the impact, and sent sprawling on the forest floor. Her arms shaking with the effort of controlling her bow for the shot, she moved slowly towards him, watching for movement.

"He's dead." Scar-Tail said, watching the other Argonian move closer through his one good eye, a bow still in her hand. He looked up as the younger female turned towards him, his eye widening in surprise. The only blue Argonians to have walked the Black Marsh had been the Sau'il clan, who had vanished over a thousand years ago, yet this one, a Battle-Scale by the way she moved and the equipment she carried, was a blue.

Jel-Sha's tail twitched. That kill had been a lot faster than she had thought if the Shadow-Scale was right. Moving over to Nar-She's prone form, she nudged him with her foot, then pushed him over. The arrow snapped as he rolled onto it, surprise plain on his dead face. That… was going to get her into trouble. She turned to Scar-Tail as her Mutari emerged from the forest, a dead rabbit hanging from its jaws. "You had better be worth more alive than dead." She said, walking over to him. "Tell me about the Hist tree."

Scar-Tail's eye narrowed. "Is… that why?" He asked. Between the fight that had landed him here in the first place and the torture that bastard had put him through, he was far too bruised to really do anything. "Why… don't you… search him?" He asked, jerking his snout at the corpse. The sound of bones crunching drew his attention from the female and his eye widened again as he saw the Mutari munching on a rabbit. How the heck had one of those gotten here?

Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Scar-Tail. "Xylia, watch," Jel-Sha ordered, pointing at Scar-Tail. The draconic head rose, part of a rabbit still hanging from the mouth as large claws scraped along the ground. Seeing Scar-Tail stiffen, Jel-Sha smirked. Xylia, like all Mutari, had a horse-like shape, but definitely draconic looks, especially the head and feet, and the bony plates covering their bodies. Turning away, she hooked her bow back into place on her harness before moving to search her former comrade's corpse.

Most of the things Nar-She had with him were almost standard equipment for a Battle-Scale, but something in his pouch stood out. A note from someone called Ri'Zakar talking about a plant, and a Plant. Jel-Sha scowled. From what the note said, it was actually Nar-She that had smuggled the tree out of Black Marsh for this Ri'Zakar character, and he was supposed to lay the blame on someone else for it. Rotten scum sucking toad, she crushed the note in a gauntleted fist and growled, wishing that she could risk using a fire spell here. Turning, she pulled a dagger from her belt and stalked over to Scar-Tail. Seeing him flinch back, she snorted and cut his bonds. "You're coming with me." She said before turning to her mount. "Xylia, stand," She ordered before swinging up onto the Mutari's back and hauling Scar-Tail up after her.

"Just where are we supposed to be going?" Scar-Tail asked from in front of her as Jel-Sha nudged Xylia into a walk.

"Chorrol," Jel-Sha replied as her Mutari picked up the pace to a trot, then to a gallop, trees flashing past either side of them. She didn't even have to touch the reins for Xylia to shift direction, heading for the city on the other side of the Imperial City; they had been there often enough that she remembered the way. "I've got friends there that'll give us shelter long enough to heal up, then you can take us to a Sanctuary that has someone you trust in there. We need to let the King know that Nar-She was behind the Hist tree disappearing, and that he sold it to someone."

Scar-Tail blinked, trying to look over his shoulder at the blue scaled Argonian behind him, but his wounds and the speed at which they were travelling made it too difficult for him. "You're insane. Why do you think that I know any sanctuaries, much less one that has people I can trust in there?" He asked.

Xylia snorted under her, echoing Jel-Sha's opinion as they raced north and west. "You're a Shadow-Scale and you worked over here for years. Shadow-Scales almost always work with the Dark Brotherhood." She pointed out. "Besides, given I just murdered that rat bastard, one of them is going to be coming to find me soon given what I've heard of how they work."

Scar-Tail grimaced. The girl had a point there, but were there any sanctuaries that had trustworthy people in them? Shifting, he held onto the Mutari's neck as he thought. "Head for Cheydinhal." He said finally. "I think that's where Ocheeva and Teinaava went, and if news hasn't run ahead of us, I can probably convince them of my sincerity." He said.

Jel-Sha nodded. "Xylia, Cheydinhal." She said, getting a bob of the head from Xylia, red horns flaring out from the top of her head as she shifted direction again.

Scar-Tail's tail twitched as it flew behind them. "How does a Mutari know where Cyrodiil's cities are?" He asked. "And where did you get it, anyway?"

She shrugged. "I found Xylia when she was a pup, back before I was sent to the Battle-Scales' training area. My village was far enough out that we didn't send people that weren't at least five years old, usually ten." Jel-Sha replied, her voice rose to carry over the wind. "I went when I was ten, which gave enough time for Xylia and me to bond, and for us to travel to Cyrodiil with my parents, merchants that trade with some of those in the cities here, mainly Chorrol."

Well, that explained things rather neatly, except for why… Scar-Tail frowned, and then kicked himself mentally. Unlike horses, Mutari tended to bond to their masters, especially if they were with one person from a young age. Most likely the teachers of the Battle-Scales hadn't been able to separate the pair, so had trained them both. Grimacing as his wounds pulled, he held on to the Mutari's neck, hoping that the ride would soon end.

* * *

Jel-Sha leaned against the wall of the tunnel that had taken them from the cellar of an abandoned house in Cheydinhal to a strange door. There were plenty of abandoned houses in a town that housed a couple of thousand people, so she hadn't known what was special about this one until Scar-Tail had led her here. Flicking her tail, she watched him approach the door, dark images painted on it a long time ago.

"What is the colour of night?" The door asked, sensing the presence of others, unknown to its magic.

Scar-Tail flicked his tail and glanced at Jel-Sha, who gestured for him to speak. "Sanguine, my brother," He responded, and watched the large stone portal rumble open. He looked over at Jel-Sha again and saw her nod. The female had been quiet the past few weeks, but she had healed his injuries better than he had expected. Apparently the Battle-Scales taught Restoration magic to the hatchlings that went to them, and Jel-Sha had probably come out ahead of most of her class.

Pushing away from the wall, Jel-Sha moved up beside Scar-Tail, "Alright, so where from here?" She asked. "Well, besides the obvious bit of in there." She commented dryly.

He snorted softly. "I'm not actually sure." Scar-Tail replied. "Though someone ought to know where Ocheeva and Teinaava are." He said, moving into the sanctuary. He hadn't been in here for far too long.

* * *

The crowd around the abandoned house that hid the sanctuary caused her to narrow her eyes. Something was obviously wrong, but what? "Tein, we didn't leave anything out in the open did we?" Ocheeva asked, shifting the basket of food on her arm as she studied the crowd.

Her twin brother shook his head before pulling his cloak a bit tighter around him to ward off the chill breeze. "Not as far as I know." Teinaava replied.

"Then why am I seeing a rather large crowd around the house?" She asked, waving at the crowd in front of them.

"Uh…" Well that was new. It was also something Teinaava had no response for. Slipping into the crowd with his sister, the pair of them worked their way forward until it suddenly stopped in front of the garden of the abandoned house that hid their sanctuary. If the reason for the crowd had not been obvious from the road, it was from the fence. Inside was a creature that he had only read about. One three toed forepaw rested on the body of what looked like a deer, blood splattered the ground as the creature's beak sliced through the corpse, horns bobbing as its head moved. "Sithis…" Teinaava breathed. "A Mutari… here… no wonder the crowd gathered."

Ocheeva glanced over at her brother, her tail twitching from being crowded by all the people staring at the creature in their back yard, "A what?" She asked.

"Mutari," Teinaava said, and then shifted, seeing his sister's look. "Um… I think they're also called dragon-horses, because they look like a cross between a dragon and a horse." He said, waving at the one eating in front of them. "I've only read about them, but from what I read, they're supposed to be pretty good in forests, and the nobles of Black Marsh keep some." Which begged the question of what the heck this one was doing here?

The crowd shifting suddenly was all that warned him of trouble. Looking back, Teinaava blinked and yelped as nearly a quarter of a ton of Mutari leapt over the fence and knocked him onto his back. Paws rested lightly on his shoulders, the toes curled around enough to grip. He looked up into reptilian blue eyes, and flinched as the Mutari's tongue slimed his snout. "Ugh…" Teinaava made a disgusted sound, only to have the Mutari snort in his face. Well that helped.

Xylia snorted at the sound of disgust the two-leg made. Silly creatures, two-legs, looking down at the one she had pinned, she flicked her short tail, sniffing at him. A male, one that smelt of blood and death to her sensitive nose, and yet… there was something about this one that attracted her. Maybe something her sister would want. How to get the two-leg to go where her sister had gone though…. Other two-legs were making scared noises, like prey. She wasn't hungry enough to try eating them, and some wore metal like her sister. Xylia wasn't going to try biting through that. Metal hurt her teeth.

Images flooded his mind. A pair of Argonians, going into the sanctuary, one a warrior, a blue, with a feeling of kinship. The other a stranger that his sister seemed to protect for some reason, then a nose pushed against him and hot air blasted against his scales. Shaking his head, Teinaava blinked as the Mutari half reared and dropped to all fours off him. What had that been?

"Are you alright, Tein?" Ocheeva asked, helping him to his feet. Why had that… creature pounced on her brother like that?

Teinaava checked himself over as the Mutari snorted behind him, causing several of the crowd to seek entertainment elsewhere. "Fine, I think." He replied, getting another snort from the Mutari. He grunted as it nudged him in the direction of the house. "I think there're visitors below though." He said, watching the rest of the crowd disperse now there was no more entertainment to be had.

She looked at him. "How do you figure that?" Ocheeva asked, looking at her brother.

He flicked his tail. "She seems to want us to go in." Teinaava said as the Mutari nudged him again and nodded, its crown of horns bobbing. Reaching up absently, he rubbed its cheek, getting a snort from the creature. "Alright, alright, we'll go." He told the Mutari. "Just let the crowd get out of here first." He said.

Ocheeva gave her brother an odd look. Why was he seemingly so taken with the creature that had pinned him down minutes earlier, and why was it here in the first place?

Waiting until the last of the crowd had gone, Ocheeva gathered the things she had bought, before the creature could snag anything from the bags and made her way over to the well. After checking that no-one was watching, she unlocked it and whistled to her brother, who slipped inside. Slipping in after him, she closed the cover carefully and locked it again before climbing down the ladder and walking out into chaos.

* * *

A heavy axe crashed into her hastily raised sword and slid down and off the end as she spun away, the skirts of her armour flapping in the breeze her movement generated. "I thought you said these guys weren't likely to attack people that had the password." Jel-Sha growled at Scar-Tail as she bumped into him.

"Last I heard, they didn't," Scar-Tail replied, using a short sword to knock away a dagger. "That… said, I think there were rumours of trouble," he pointed out. "And I did bring you here, when you haven't been vouched for by a Speaker." He added as his tail lashed.

Jel-Sha snorted, dodging away from a blonde human with a knife and kicking her in the rump to knock her sprawling. "Just be grateful I shot that traitor Nar-She." She retorted, sparks flying from her blade as she blocked another attack from the orc wielding the axe.

"Just what in Sithis' name is going on here?" A voice called, cutting through the clash of weapons and sound of fists striking flesh. "Grogon, Antoinetta, lower your weapons." The speaker continued.

The orc paused, turning to look at where the voice had come from. "But Och—" Jel-Sha's fist caught him in the stomach with enough force to lift him off his feet and send him crashing down into a pile of sacks against one wall.

Seeing the human pause, Scar-Tail took the opportunity to relieve her of her weapon and knock her down before turning to look at the source of the voice. "About time you two showed up." He said, straightening slightly. "We have some news that needs to get back to the Marsh, and she is a new assassin." He pointed at Jel-Sha with his thumb.

Jel-Sha snorted softly, her eyes narrowing as another pair, a human male and what looked like an underfed Khajiit entered the room and stopped, staring at the tableau in front of them. "Short version, someone tried saying your friend here was a traitor and sent me out with the real traitor to bring him in." She said.

Ocheeva and Teinaava shared confused looks before he shrugged and turned back to studying the new comers. One he recognised, Scar-Tail, one of the males that had come through the Marsh and the Shadow-Scale training with him and Ocheeva, the other… the other he recognised from the images the Mutari had pushed at him. "You wouldn't happen to know a Mutari, would you?" He asked. It was likely and it would fit, since the kinship had been to the female, the blue, which there were virtually none of anywhere that he had heard of.

"I take it that you met Xylia then." Jel-Sha said, flicking her tail. Seeing his confused look, she rolled her eyes, "The Mutari."

Teinaava blinked. "Oh… uh, yeah, we met." He said, shifting slightly as Ocheeva moved forward and grabbed Scar-Tail, dragging him off in the direction of her room. "Is Xylia always that enthusiastic about new people?" He asked.

"Just where is Ocheeva going with that… lizard?" The Khajiit asked from the side as the orc climbed to his feet, groaning.

Teinaava looked over, seeing the tails of the pair disappearing and shrugged, "Probably to catch up on things, M'raaj." He said to the cat-man. "We know Scar-Tail from before coming here and it has been a while since we talked… and they've always been close, for Shadow-Scales."

Jel-Sha arched an eye ridge. "What do you mean by enthusiastic?" She asked, finally sheathing her sword.

"Jumping on you and licking you." Teinaava replied as the Khajiit wandered off, the others sharing looks before drifting away for the time being. Teinaava didn't doubt that they were going to remain near and alert just to be safe, since even though he and Ocheeva had apparently accepted the new ones, the fact that the pair had been fighting with Grogon and Antoinetta was not going to go down well.

Jel-Sha frowned. "Only with me," She said, "And that only because we've been together for years." Frowning, she looked at the other Argonian, noticing the blood around his snout. "Is that why your snout is bloody?" She asked.

Teinaava nodded, using one hand to try to clean his snout off. "She decided to pin me and lick me." He said.

She snorted in amusement. Flicking her tail, Jel-Sha walked up to him, pulling out a rag from a pouch hanging at her hip. "Here." She said, pulling her water skin and wetting the rag from it before using it to wipe his snout clean of blood. "I guess I'd better go clean up after her, again." She said, rolling her eyes as she stepped back. "Still, at least the kill was blooded this time."

He arched an eye ridge at her, flicking his tail. She was an odd female, in more ways than one. She certainly wasn't what Teinaava had expected for a Battle-Scale from the Marsh, but then it seemed that the Marsh created groups based on the sign you were born under more than families. He wiped his snout dry on his sleeve and looked up at her. "I've heard your Mutari's name, but I haven't heard yours yet." He said, ignoring the odd look that Grogon cast his way. "Or how you met Xylia and got that armour." He said.

Jel-Sha shrugged, hearing the Khajiit muttering darkly from one of the corridors. "Name's Jel-Sha," She said. "As for the rest, how about we find somewhere with seats if we're going to talk, since I don't know about you, but talking standing up makes things feel awkward to me." She pointed out, flicking her tail slowly.

Teinaava frowned for a moment before nodding. "This way," He said, beckoning her to follow. Heading down the corridor to the living quarters, he looked over his shoulder at Jel-Sha. "If you hadn't already guessed, or been told, I'm Teinaava, by the way." He added.

She grinned at him. "I guessed." Jel-Sha said, flicking her tail as she followed. "Scar-Tail said he knew a pair of twins in Cheydinhal, and given the cat called your sister Ocheeva that left you as Teinaava." She said.

He snorted in amusement, finding the living quarters and leading her off to his own room on one side of them. Most of the Dark Brothers and Dark Sisters slept in the barracks, which was divided between the males and the females, but Teinaava had found a room that had once been a store and cleared it out for a room of his own. Opening the door, he let Jel-Sha in before following her and closing the door behind them. "Grab a seat." He offered before sitting himself on his bed.

Pushing her cowl back, Jel-Sha took a seat and leaned back for a moment, the green skirts of her armour hanging from her legs. "Alright," She said, flicking her tail. "What did you want to know?" She asked, looking at him.

Teinaava flicked his tail, watching the way the cloth slid over her armoured thighs for a moment before drawing his attention back to her face. Jel-Sha certainly wasn't what he had imagined the Battle-Scales were like, and he had heard that the Sau'il — the only clan that were really that pale blue and white — were all dead. "How did you meet Xylia?" He asked, watching her.

Leaning back again, Jel-Sha crossed her legs, frowning slightly. "I don't remember all of it." She said, running a hand through the spines growing out of her head. "My clan isn't one of the High Clans to send its children off when they hatch or to lay their eggs in the nurseries of the cities." She said, flicking her tail, her eyes narrowing slightly as she noticed the attention Teinaava was paying to her, and not just her story. "More often than not we don't go until we're ten, though some are sent as young as five." She said.

"Xylia and I met while I was a hatchling myself, barely out of the nursery." Jel-Sha continued, frowning as she tried to remember the long past first encounter with her Xylia. "I'm not sure exactly what happened, it's been far too long," She said, "But I think I wandered and somehow ended up finding her egg before it hatched. Just before. We've been together since, including trips into Cyrodiil with my parents, particularly Chorrol." She said with a shrug.

Shifting slightly, she looked past his head, into the past. "I was ten when I went to the Battle-Scale school, and by then, Xylia and I were pretty well inseparable." Jel-Sha continued. "We had been together for her entire life and practically all of mine, so the school ended up making changes to incorporate her after the fifth time she interrupted lessons." She snorted in amusement. "I think it actually put a lot of the others out, since they were all working alone or as a group, yet here I was, Far Clan and never been to the school before, yet I was training in a different style and I had a companion who was close enough that we could almost read one another's minds."

Teinaava snorted softly. "I'll bet." He murmured, remembering the images that her Mutari had put into his head. It had to have been the Mutari, since no one else would have known about this female and her… companion. He almost envied Scar-Tail that. "What about the armour?" He asked, looking her up and down. The armour was mostly fine chain and leather or cloth. Most of the females in the sanctuary were what most people would class as pretty or having nice bodies, primarily due to the training they put themselves through, but none of them could match Jel-Sha's almost inherent grace. Especially in the outlandish armour she wore.

Jel-Sha shrugged. "It's actually something I found on a mission a couple of years ago." She said. "I was sent to Archon to do some monster hunting and found the armour in one of the shops there." She shrugged her shoulder, noting the way Teinaava's eyes followed the movement. He did seem pretty taken with her, and he wasn't too bad looking himself. "I just about had enough to buy it and my old armour had about had it, so I did." She said. Shifting slightly, she hooked an arm over the back of the chair, watching him. He was a nice enough looking guy — better than some of the lunk-heads she had trained with. "Now let me ask you something." She said. "What's the deal with the sanctuary?" She asked, waving around. "The way Scar-Tail described it, we should've been okay to come in and at least talked to people, but the orc and the human girl attacked us before we had a chance to say anything."

Teinaava flicked his tail. "We've… been having problems." He said slowly, "Ones that have got us all a bit jumpy. There's been deaths amongst the Family, ones not from failed missions."

Jel-Sha's eyes narrowed. "Anyone manage to say how their attackers were acting?" She asked.

He shook his head. "No," Teinaava replied, trying to remember the reports he had heard about the deaths of Dark Brothers and Sisters. "Why?"

"Not a rival to the Brotherhood then… hmmm…." She murmured, frowning. Looking up and seeing his curious expression, she shrugged. "I was sent out to get Scar-Tail, but the guy I was sent out with apparently stole and sold a living Hist tree to someone." She said. "I want to track it down, but I need local information, and you guys were our first port of call."

Teinaava sucked in a breath. He had heard that Scar-Tail had gone rogue, but hadn't wanted to believe it. Now it seemed that it wasn't actually Scar-Tail that had gone rogue, but one of the others. Not only that, but they had managed to steal a Hist tree and bring it here to Cyrodiil? That was serious trouble, beyond what the Brotherhood was going through. "I don't know anything about a Hist tree, but then I don't get much news here." He said, flicking his tail. "One thing I do know, though, is that Cyrodiil is in trouble. The Emperor is dead, and we've had a few encounters with Daedra that haven't been summoned."

Jel-Sha huffed out a sigh. That would make things harder. "That's going to make things more awkward." She said.

Teinaava nodded. "They seem to be appearing at random right now, at least from what we've seen." He said, and then frowned. "Something you might want to do though is to try talking to the other guilds. There are Mages and Fighters here in town, they might know of something that could help you."

She nodded. "I think, in the morning would be best." Jel-Sha said. "And I'm probably going to take Scar-Tail with me for now." She added, drawing one leg up and hooking her arms around it. "I'm planning on heading for Chorrol, which would probably be a safer place to drop him off in with Seed-Neeus and her daughter than leave him here."

He snorted softly. "I think that'll depend on whether you can pry him away from Ocheeva in the morning." Teinaava said, leaning back on his bed. "I think they were… closer than most." At least from what he remembered for when they were in training together.

* * *

Jel-Sha wasn't sure why she had woken, or what had gotten her here. She could feel the slight heat at her back from Teinaava and could remember spending some time teasing him the previous evening, though she wasn't sure who had seduced whom in the end. After their talk, they had returned to the main part of the sanctuary in enough time for Ocheeva and Scar-Tail to show up again and for Ocheeva to lay down the law to most everyone. This had been that there were not going to be any fights in the sanctuary and that until she confirmed with the Hand Jel-Sha's status, she was to be treated as a guest.

Jel-Sha remembered that much fine, and the dinner, which had not included poison. What she did not remember was whether she had seduced Teinaava or he had seduced her. Either way, they had ended up sharing a bed, and a bottle of wine before. Drawing slightly away from him, she rolled over onto her back and opened her eyes in time to catch a glint of light on metal.

Sleep may have fuzzed her ability to think, but it didn't have the same effect on her reactions. Both arms came up, forming a cross and angled to be where someone's wrist should have been coming from. It was either luck or timing that let her actually block the attack. Holding the other's arm between her own, Jel-Sha shifted and kicked out, managing to knock them away long enough to get herself out of bed.

Standing in front of the bed, Jel-Sha brought her hands up defensively in front of her. There probably wouldn't be time to get a weapon or armour, meaning she was going to have to fight naked. Oh well. Most people had seen similar before. Question was, who was this person and why were they attacking when the Sanctuary dwellers had been told that they weren't allowed to try anything with her?

The other came in, fast and low. Jel-Sha's arm swept down, deflecting the strike even as she shifted to the opposite side. Following through, she tried to elbow her attacker, only to have the strike blocked by an upraised hand. Spinning the opposite way, she elbowed the other in the back, feeling leather against her scales.

She didn't get a chance to follow through as the other turned and raised his empty hand. She just had time to recognise the sign for a shock spell before lightning slammed into her. The force of the spell was enough to send Jel-Sha through the closed door. Landing with a grunt, Jel-Sha managed to turn what should have been a back breaker of an impact into a backwards roll that brought her back to her feet as shards of splintered wood flew around her.

Shielding her face from the splinters, she heard some of the others' beds shift. "Grr… on your feet you louts!" Jel-Sha snapped, getting back to her own, "Attack!" She yelled, and then grunted as another bolt of lightning slammed into her. Electricity sparked over her scales, teasing and crackling, but did no more.

Well that was new. Of course in a swamp, electricity was a bad spell to play with, so it wasn't really a wonder that she hadn't known. Her lips pulled back from her teeth as the other laughed harshly, sounding more than a little like someone had cracked his shell… and his skull.

"They won't answer you, bitch." He snarled, stalking towards her again. "They're dead. They're all dead. Just you and the other lizards left, then I can report back to LaChance that I've completed my mission." He laughed manically again.

Crap. Jel-Sha backed up as he came on, looking over at a bed as she past it, muscles tensing slightly when she saw the orc, lying dead on his back, green blood pooling on the mattress. If it really was just her and the other Argonians, then there was still a bit of a chance to get out of this alive… if she thought fast.

_Xylia!_ The thought was barely a word, but after so long with her Mutari, it would be enough to let Xylia know about trouble, and that would likely have her smash down anything in the way, including ensorcelled doors.

Backing up again, she jumped and rolled as a ball of fire flew at her. Obviously the bastard she was fighting had figured out that spark spells weren't going to work. Her tail lashed as she rolled to her feet near the bed of the human. She needed some sort of weapon… any sort of weapon.

Glancing over at the bed, Jel-Sha grimaced. The human woman was dead, and there was no sign of any weapons near her. If she had any, they were likely locked in her trunk, and lock-picking was something that she had neither the skill, nor the time for.

Okay, no weapons and no armour. This was not looking good, especially since the enemy was armed, armoured and likely knew the layout of this sanctuary a lot better than she did… and he had spells. That said she had spells as well, including a couple of weapon summoning spells.

Dodging away from another fire spell, she cast silence on him, and then called a dagger from the netherworld with her second spell. It wasn't much, but at least it was a weapon.

* * *

Her dagger struck dead centre of the training dummy in front of her, yet Ocheeva barely paid it any attention. Standing back up, she stretched slowly and frowned at the wall behind the dummy.

Today had been… strange. A couple of months ago, she had heard that Scar-Tail, the Argonian that she and Teinaava had grown up with and thought of as a brother, had gone rogue. She remembered how she had felt when the news had reached her, as if her heart had been torn out. Only three people had been constant in her life, only three that she had cared for. Lucien LaChance, who had almost raised her, Teinaava, her brother, her twin, and Scar-Tail, the one male she saw as a brother and… and more.

Then the Sau'il Battle-Scale had come, bringing Scar-Tail with her, only to swoop in and steal Teinaava from under her snout. Ocheeva growled, her hand tightening around the dagger she held. She had seen the way Teinaava had looked at the Sau'il. Scar-Tail looked at her with some respect, yes, since from what he had told her, this Jel-Sha girl had saved his life, but Teinaava had never shown any interest in females before and now he was looking at an outsider in a way that suggested he wanted to bed her. He probably was right now, and she had read 'The Lusty Argonian Maid' enough times to know what it involved.

Maybe it was just a case of too much, too fast. She was an assassin, not a fighter, she lived for planning things out, then carrying them through in her own time, in a way that would praise the Night Mother and Sithis… and yet, working for the Black Hand, especially with Dark Brothers and Sisters falling left and right, was becoming both a bore and increasingly nerve-wracking. Maybe it was time she and Teinaava left Cyrodiil to find somewhere to relax for a while. Maybe it was time to look at finding mates as well, permanent mates, not ones simply for a breeding season which had not resulted in her getting pregnant.

The sound of splintering wood caused her to whip around in time to see the Sau'il come flying through the door of the training room, closely followed by the newest of Cheydinhal's Dark Brothers, whose eyes lit up when he saw Ocheeva, blood running from his dagger as an insane grin crept onto his face.

Ocheeva shivered at the sight. There had always been something _wrong_ about that Nord, something that made Grogon look tame by comparison.

Picking herself up off the stone floor, Jel-Sha grimaced at the feel of blood along her back and legs. What was it about this arsehole that he had to constantly blast her through the damn doors in this place? Seeing that he was distracted with Ocheeva, she took the chance to cast a couple of healing spells on herself.

Alright, if that was the way this clown wanted to play, then she still had a couple of tricks. One trick in particular would put this arsehole in his place. Her lips pulled back from her teeth in a snarl as her hide shivered.

Dodging away from a shock spell, Ocheeva rolled back to her feet, but stayed in a half crouch. Hearing something from where Jel-Sha was, she glanced over in time to see the Sau'il's scales tear open and fall away. Her eyes widened as the other Argonian stood up, leaving scales to shrivel away on the stone floor as white fur replaced them. She hadn't known that Jel-Sha was a werewolf!

She watched as the Dark Brother turned, just in time to receive a knuckle sandwich that knocked him clear across the training room. "Note to self," Ocheeva muttered as the werewolf snarled at Erick, "Don't piss off the Sau'il unless you want things to get hairy."

Dropping onto all fours, Jel-Sha leapt across the room as the human staggered back to his feet and slammed him back into the wall again. Ears flat against her head; she picked him up and hurled him across the room. This time though, he managed to flip himself around and land on his feet. When he lunged at her again, she dodged to the side, grabbing one of his ankles, and swept him around to smash through one of the training dummies before slamming into a wall.

Grabbing the man by the throat, Jel-Sha growled as he grabbed her wrist, his grip stronger than she had thought it would be for a human. It didn't stop her though. Her claws pierced his neck as she squeezed, crushing his throat until his neck snapped. Dropping the corpse, she slammed her foot down on its head, crushing it. After the last time she had dealt with undead, she wanted to make sure that things stayed plain dead when they were supposed to be.

"Ocheeva!" Teinaava's voice came from behind her, causing Jel-Sha to turn and spy the assassin, still watching her.

"You stare at me like that any longer and your face will freeze that way." Jel-Sha said, her voice coming out deeper and with a distinct growl. Well that was different; of course, it was also the first time she had tried talking in this form. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly, feeling her body shrink and return to its natural form. Opening her eyes again, she looked down at her forearms, where sigils glowed brightly before fading back under her scales.

Looking up at Jel-Sha, Ocheeva's tail twitched as her brother and Scar-Tail ran into the room, both with weapons in hand. "What are you?" She whispered.

Lowering his weapon slightly, Scar-Tail looked around the room, his tail twitching at the sight of the corpse near Jel-Sha's feet. "Can someone explain what just happened?" He asked, flicking his tail. He grunted as Xylia pushed past him and made her way over to her mistress.

"The others… are dead." Teinaava said, slipping an arm around his sister. "Ocheeva, what happened here?" He asked softly.

Ocheeva flicked her tail and shook her head to clear it. Seeing someone transform into a werewolf, then seeing them pound someone you knew was a bit of a shock. "Erick came in, attacking Jel-Sha then he turned on me." She said, shifting slightly. "Jel-Sha… turned into a werewolf and killed him."

"A werewolf?" Teinaava asked, had he heard his sister right? He looked over at Jel-Sha, who was simply standing by the corpse of Erick, completely naked. She looked as good without clothes as she did with them. He flicked his tail, watching her. "Is that true?"

Jel-Sha nodded. "It's true," she admitted. "I ended up in a fight between a werewolf and a vampire, not long before I got my armour." She grimaced at the memory. Being caught as prey between two unnatural creatures had not been fun, though on the good side, she had been bitten by the werewolf rather than the vampire. A lust for raw meat was easy to satisfy with hunting for a Mutari, unlike a lust for the blood of the living. "The werewolf bit me and I got infected. Hunting with Xylia and magic to keep control let me keep it in check though."

Scar-Tail snorted softly. "You've got damn good control considering you had me bleeding around you for several days _and_ you managed to not kill that renegade you were stuck with until he was about to murder me." He said, flicking his tail as he looked down at the mess. "Something about this set up stinks though," Walking over to Ocheeva, he put his sword down and pulled her up. "Ocheeva, Brotherhood rules say that we're not allowed to kill one another, but are there any exceptions?"

Ocheeva nodded. "A Cleansing," She replied hoarsely. "A Speaker can order their Silencer to perform a Cleansing of their sanctuary, if the rest of the Black Hand is in agreement."

"Well… considering Grogon, Antoinetta, M'raaj and Tel are all dead in the barracks… it looks like Lucien decided that Erick was to be his Silencer and someone has said that our Sanctuary was to be cleansed…." Teinaava said thoughtfully. "Meaning we can't stay here, whether we want to leave or not, because once Lucien knows that we survived, you can bet that he'll send people after us."

"I guess we need to get a horse or three, then." Scar-Tail said, flicking his tail. "And head for Chorrol?" He asked Jel-Sha.

She nodded, "Might as well. I've got friends there and it's not like we can waltz into anywhere else at the moment… and it's a good way from here so there's less chance of them tracking us."

"Leyawiin is definitely out," Scar-Tail confirmed. "I don't know what that 'Lady' of theirs has against us, but I don't want to find out if the rumours about her torturing our kind are true."

Shaking herself off, Ocheeva stepped away from her brother. "I'm not leaving here yet. Not until I know that this was the Speaker's doing." She flicked her tail. "I know where he stays when he's not here, and I know when he's likely to be out."

Jel-Sha nodded. "Fine, but let's not get ourselves killed when we just escaped from a 'cleansing'. Once we know what's going on, we can see about doing something about it." She said, flicking her tail as the other three nodded.

* * *

Shifting some of the papers on Lucien's desk, Ocheeva scowled as she spotted a scroll gone yellow with age. Taking it gently, she unrolled it and read through its contents, blinking at what it said.

_I have watched you from afar and feel it is time to make myself known. I am Greywyn, the last of the Crimson Scars. Once a powerful force rivalling the Dark Brotherhood itself, the Scars were the true followers of Sithis and the masters of deception. I will be departing this world soon, as the cold embrace of the Night Lord calls to me. All I have I leave as a legacy to you. My home, Deepscorn Hollow, will be your new haven. Use the map on the reverse of this note to find it. All that lay within is yours to do with as you please. I have but one request in return... further the ways of shadow and honour Sithis with the darkest of deeds. Make the virtuous pay for their blasphemy with their lifeblood staining your blade. May Sithis guide you._

_Greywyn_

Checking that the map was still on the scroll, Ocheeva grinned as she slipped it into her pouch. Lucien might have forced her out of her old home, but she was going to take this one off him. From the look of it, he hadn't even read the note since he had been given it.

Checking through a few more notes, she finally found the one she was after, the orders for the Cleansing. Placing that into her pouch as well, Ocheeva recast the chameleon spell and quietly left her former Speaker's sanctuary, closing the door softly as she heard the opposite door opening.

Sneaking out the way she had come in, she climbed up and out of the well, closing the cover softly. Crouching in the lee of the well, she frowned. Most likely that had been either Lucien or one of the Hand that had come to find out what was happening with the Cleansing. If she was lucky, they would have come on horseback and would have left it unguarded….

Ocheeva worked her way back to the stables of Fort Farragut and unlocked it with a pick she slipped out of a tube on her armour. Going inside, she paused to look around to ensure that there was no one else there. Spotting a horse in one stall, she grabbed a saddle and halter and headed over to it.

It only took a few minutes to get a saddle and bridle on the beast, before she led it out into the sun. Mounting it, she kicked it into a run, heading back towards where the others were hiding.

Riding into the camp, Ocheeva pulled her mount to a stop and slid off its back. Taking the reins in hand, she pulled it over to where Jel-Sha's beast was waiting, feasting on what looked like a goblin. Feeling the beast pull on the reins, she looked up at it and snorted to herself, seeing a pair of glowing red eyes fixed hungrily on the dead goblin. "Great… I had to get Lucien's insane horse." She muttered, leading it over to the kill and tying it to a tree and ignoring its snort of disgust at her comment.

Pushing her hood back off her head, she entered the tent that someone had set up and flopped onto a bedroll.

"I hope you're not expecting anything comfortable at the moment," Jel-Sha said, hearing Ocheeva sigh as she flopped backwards, "Because the guys are still trying to get things from town."

"At this point, away from this place would suit me." Ocheeva replied with a sigh. "From what little I read of the orders… it looks like the entire Hand were in on trying to have us murdered." Family killing Family… she had seen it often enough, even been called in to do the deed, but she had never been on the receiving end of it before. It went against everything she had been taught from her youngest days.

Moving over to where Ocheeva was lying, Jel-Sha put a hand on the older female's shoulder and squeezed. "Well get them, eventually." She promised. "Right now though, we're safe and alive, and we can basically go anywhere we want because you and Teinaava are going to appear to be dead to them." It had been an idea that Scar-Tail had come up with, and he and Teinaava were going to carry through on. A couple of the bandits that had used this camp as a base had been Argonian and close enough in looks to the twins that they could pass for them. "It means you're going to have to stash your armour for a while, but better that than the alternative."

"I know," Ocheeva replied, flicking her tail, "And Jel?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you, both for bringing Scar-Tail back and for saving my brother and I." Ocheeva said softly. She looked up as Jel-Sha squeezed her shoulder again, "Though you did scare me a bit when you turned into a wolf."

Jel-Sha snorted softly. "Not half as much as I scared myself the first time out," Her tail flicked uncomfortably. "Xylia ended up sitting on me a few times, until I managed to figure out what was going on and get a spell put on me to maintain control. I think she was the only one I wouldn't hurt at the time."

"Probably because, even with your conscious buried, you could feel the bond, and knew that hurting her would hurt you." Ocheeva said, shifting slightly, then getting up carefully and stripping out of her shrouded armour, replacing it with a tan skirt and a forester's shirt. "It has been a long time since I wore something other than my armour for an extended period."

"Well, at least you'll blend in," Jel-Sha commented. "Me, I stand out too much anyway, so might as well play on it." She grinned, taking her pack and pulling out a set of huntsman's leathers. Removing her armour, she put them on, flicking her tail as she settled a dagger on her hip.

Ocheeva stared at the younger female for a moment before shaking her head. "If you're going to wear that get up, everybody from here to Anvil will be staring at you… including my brother."

Jel-Sha smiled slightly at her comment, remembering her night with Teinaava. "He's a nice guy, even if he is an assassin."

* * *

"So we're going to talk to your friend, then see if there are any houses for sale and find out how much we need for one to lie low in for a while?" Teinaava asked as they walked through the gates of Chorrol. The four of them were wearing ordinary clothes instead of their armour, but even so, they had gotten a few odd looks, primarily because of their mounts.

Jel-Sha nodded, flicking her tail as she looked around at the square they had come into. It had been a long time since she had been to Chorrol with her parents. What was it now? Ten years? More? She did remember hanging out near the gates with Seed-Neeus' daughter, Dar-Ma as a child. "Seed-Neeus should still own the Northern Goods and Trade on Chapel Street… near the south gate."

Scar-Tail shifted, resting a hand on his dagger hilt. "Good thing we came in through the south gate then." Looking around for a moment as the crowds moved around them he spotted what looked to be the shop Jel-Sha had named. "There." He said, pointing at a building with a sign in front. "That's the place."

Nodding again, Jel-Sha turned and worked her way through the crowd towards the shop, frowning when she got to the door and found a closed sign hanging on it. "Something's off here… this place shouldn't be closed in the middle of the day."

"Let's see if anyone knows anything then." Ocheeva suggested, turning away from the door and looking around. Spying another shop opposite the one they were standing in front of, she made her way over to it and entered, looking around. Seeing so many books, she whistled softly as the others followed her in. Teinaava was going to love this shop if they stayed here in Chorrol.

Making her way up to the counter, she caught the attention of the store owner, a female Breton. "Excuse me," Ocheeva started, "My friends and I came here from Cheydinhal to visit the owner of the Northern Goods as my sister-in-law is visiting from the Black Marsh and her parents were friends of Seed-Neeus', but when we got here, we noticed that the shop was closed."

The woman nodded. "Yes, it is. Seed-Neeus' daughter left the city to take some supplies to a mining town south of here about two weeks ago. She hasn't been heard from since and Seed-Neeus has been spending most of her days either hiding in her home or trying to convince either the Countess or the Fighter's Guild to send someone to look for her."

"What town?" Ocheeva asked.

"Hackdirt," The woman replied, "But I wouldn't go there if I were you. Something real bad happened there a while ago and the Legion burned the place down."

Ocheeva frowned. "Apparently they didn't do a good job of making sure it stayed burned." She said, before turning to leave with the others. "Do you know where this 'Hackdirt' place is?" She asked Scar-Tail.

"Vaguely," He replied, "It's almost due south of here, probably a day or two days on horseback, but the terrain is pretty rough."

"Then let's get going," Teinaava said, "The sooner we get started, the sooner we can put an end to this."

Jel-Sha nodded in agreement, her tail lashing. "I agree, and Dar was a friend of mine before I started training, I'm not going to leave her in the hands of some kidnappers, especially not in a place that was burned to the ground once."

Ocheeva flicked her tail. "Let's not go quite yet." She said, frowning. "Let's do this with a bit more finesse than just charging in and bulling through. We've got a few septims, we can probably buy some goods that aren't likely to be seen in a small town… and with a bit of hunting, we can get some animals to take as well, make it look like we're a merchant group, so two of us in armour, the rest in travelling clothes, and either hide or use Xylia's features." They couldn't go running into this without planning, even if the girl's life was in danger. Better that they planned than they relied on luck to get them out of trouble. "Let's go to the inn first, find out what happened in Hackdirt, why it was burned, and what people living there are likely to want so we can get in without too much trouble."

Scar-Tail nodded. "Ocheeva's got a point." He said, jerking his head towards the nearby inn. "We need information and a way to blend in, neither of which we have at the moment. Obviously we're not going to be able to go in as locals to Chorrol because we don't sound like the Argonians that live here, but we also can't afford to have a weak story, otherwise we'll be in just as much trouble as the girl is." He looked over at Ocheeva as they walked towards the inn. If he knew her, she would get some sort of plan set up that would let them find things out and get the girl out safely in a day or two at the most. "I don't think a few more days will make much difference now, unless they want something that takes place at a specific time."

"One of us should let Seed-Neeus know that we are going to look for her daughter though," Jel-Sha said as they entered the inn. At least it would give the older Argonian some hope of finding out what had happened to her daughter.

Teinaava nodded. "Agreed, and I think we should all see about getting some decent armour, since we don't know what this town will be like and we don't really want to use our normal armour as it stands out too much."

* * *

"Can't you find anyone to look for my daughter?" Seed-Neeus begged the head of the Fighter's Guild.

"I'm sorry, Seed-Neeus, but we haven't got anybody to send, what with the Blackwood Company stirring up all kinds of trouble and my people being killed all over, we simply can't afford to take anyone away from anything else at the moment."

Seed-Neeus closed her eyes as tears trickled down her cheeks. It had been almost the same every day since Dar-Ma had gone missing. If it had been the other woman's son that was missing, the one that was still alive, no doubt the Fighter's Guild would be jumping in to help their mistress, but she was just a simple shop owner, who wasn't even a human.

Her tail dragged on the floor as she made her way back down the stairs and left the Fighter's Guild. She didn't notice the group of four Argonians waiting near the statue in the square until one of them came up to her and caught her arm. "What do you want?" Seed-Neeus asked her voice cracked from tears that blurred her eyes.

Reaching up, Jel-Sha wiped the tears from Seed-Neeus' eyes gently. "To tell you that my friends and I are going to look for Dar, Seed-Neeus," She said, flicking her tail. "But we need to know what we ought to look for to find her and what this town she went to is like."

She blinked as her tears were brushed away. She knew that voice, it had been years, but still, she knew that voice, "Jel-Sha?" Seed-Neeus asked, her sight clearing enough to see the blue scaled Argonian in front of her. "What are you doing here?"

"Actually, I was coming to find you to get some help, but you need help more than I do at the moment." Jel-Sha replied, flicking her tail. Gently, she pulled Seed-Neeus over to where the others were waiting, all three of them looking grim. Assassins that cared about other people outside their own, now there was a novel concept, still… they had lost their family to the machinations of their higher ups, so they were probably stinging from that betrayal.

Ocheeva's tail twitched when she saw the woman. She had spent more than a few nights, and days, crying on someone's shoulder because of what she had lost, but at least she had had people there for her, this woman had nobody and from what Jel-Sha had said, her daughter was still young enough to be considered a child by some. "Can you tell us what happened to your daughter?" She asked gently.

"I-I don't know," Seed-Neeus whispered. "She went to a town south of here called Hackdirt. I often take supplies to the people there." Seed-Neeus sobbed, tears choking her voice. "This time though, I wasn't feeling well and Dar-Ma went in my place." She explained. "She hasn't returned, and neither the Legion nor the Fighters Guild will do anything." She said, sobbing again.

"Did your daughter take anything readily identifiable with her?" Scar-Tail asked, reaching over to squeeze Seed-Neeus' shoulder as Jel-Sha crouched in front of the older Argonian, holding her hands.

"Dar-Ma took her horse, Blossom, and rode down to Hackdirt. She was going to deliver goods to the store keeper in town." Seed-Neeus replied, her tail twitching. "Why?"

Scar-Tail shifted slightly. "Because it gives us something to look for to find her trail, once we have that, we can set a wolf on it." He said, causing Jel-Sha to roll her eyes at the bad pun at her expense.

Teinaava flicked his tail against Jel-Sha's side gently, turning to look at Seed-Neeus. "Can you tell us who this store keeper is?" He asked. Seeing her curious look, he shrugged. "My sister wants us to play merchants as well to get into town, and if your daughter was going to deliver supplies to the store keeper, then that one will be a good place to start, along with any inn or tavern keepers in the town."

"Etira Moslin," Seed-Neeus said, flicking her tail. "She has got to be one of the most unpleasant store keepers I have ever had the misfortune of dealing with. Her brother, or husband, Vlanhonder runs the only inn in town and he's about as pleasant."

The four Argonians shared a look. That was just about everything they needed, but it would be rude to simply leave Seed-Neeus here without saying anything. "Thank you," Ocheeva said, flicking her tail. "Come on, we'll walk you home, then go and find your daughter." When Seed-Neeus nodded, she stood up to help walk the older Argonian home.


End file.
